


20 Questions

by ghoullly



Category: Gorillaz
Genre: Fluff, M/M, One Shot
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-06-26
Updated: 2018-06-26
Packaged: 2019-05-28 19:46:16
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,887
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15056438
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ghoullly/pseuds/ghoullly
Summary: Ace wants to get to know 2D just a little better.





	20 Questions

**Author's Note:**

> we now break from your usually scheduled gunpowder princess to bring you a fluffy oneshot
> 
> i was talking about headcanons on my 2dace sideblog (@acestu) and then this idea got in my head and wouldn't leave until i wrote it. plus i need to learn how 

It was one hell of a change for 2D, but it was definitely a welcome one.

It wasn’t Ace in particular, no; it was the sense of calmness that had washed over everyone in the band over the last few months. They all loved Murdoc despite his asshole personality--he was family--but things were admittedly much nicer without him around. Nobody gave anybody anxiety attacks, there were no fights... nothing. He had started working on The Now Now back towards the end of the Humanz Tour, but they brought Ace in to finish the job; it had to be done. With 2D as the designated leader, Russel and Noodle figured that things would be much more laid-back for the time being.

That was how Ace had found the time to offer to take him to breakfast--2D had happily obliged, and that was where they found themselves now: a small, quiet coffee shop in downtown Detroit. 2D had insisted that they sit at a table next to a window so they could sit and people-watch and listen to the rain that gently fell outside. The sky outside was a light gray but it was comfortable, and they weren’t rushed because there was nothing to do and nowhere to be.

That was great, because the two of them hadn’t been on a date yet. They’d been so busy with album work that there hadn’t been a good opportunity to slip away from Noodle and Russel. But the Now Now was due in a little more than a week, and they’d been so ahead of schedule that they all were able to kick back and relax for a minute. They’d returned to the Spirit House to catch their breath before leaving to tour again.

_ That  _ was what 2D was glad for. The peace and relaxation. 

And also that he got to sit in this coffee shop and feel like a teenager again, chin resting in his hand as he stared out the window into the street, playing footsie with his very-attractive boyfriend as he did the same thing.

He’d sworn him off as straight when he’d first met him. He’d also considered himself straight his entire life, but when Ace would compliment him during recording or give him a slap on the back after a concert, 2D had felt himself fall head over heels (more so when they’d filmed in Venice Beach and he’d literally done that when trying to skate over to him with unsteady legs). Confused, he’d talked to Noodle about his denial, and she’d told him that developing feelings like that was normal even in your 40s; she suggested that he might have been bi-curious despite always thinking he was straight. He’d sat on that for a few days and didn’t try to swallow the butterflies he felt whenever he talked to their temporary bassist, and when Ace had casually mentioned that he was gay, 2D grew excited but anxious--that meant there was a possibility that he had the same feelings, but what if he didn’t?

They both had been the last two remaining downstairs late one night after Russel and Noodle had went to bed. 2D had grown so anxious about his feelings by then that he had started to panic right in the middle of a conversation. Ace had begun to calm him down, and when 2D had accidentally blurted everything right then and found himself on the verge of tears, the bassist had kissed him right on the lips and admitted that he had felt the same way. The two had sat in a heap on the kitchen floor for hours before deciding to give dating each other a try, and if it didn’t work, then what did they have to lose?

So far it had been absolutely wonderful. Ace was a gentleman and always opened doors, pulled out chairs... 2D would always blush bright red whenever he’d go out of his way for him, because he wasn’t used to it at all. Truthfully, he hadn’t thought that he deserved it. Ace found it adorable whenever the singer would get flustered and would tease him a bit in pure Ace fashion; he could acknowledge that he’d changed for the most part, but bits of his mischievous younger years shone through in playful ways. 

It was still fairly early in the morning for them; it was 8 o’clock and Noodle and Russel wouldn’t likely get up for a few more hours. 2D had gotten a tea and Ace had gotten coffee--he drank it completely black, which 2D couldn’t handle, and Ace absolutely hated the taste of tea if it wasn’t iced in a half-and-half Lipton jug--and a single blueberry muffin sat in between them to each pick at. The hand that didn’t hold 2D’s chin rested idly on the table, and Ace took the opportunity to reach over and take it in his, coolly winking at the blue-haired man when he’d looked up in surprise. He rubbed on the back of his hand with his thumb, shifting his attention to the singer instead of the rain outside.

“You know, we’ve known each other for almost five months now and I don’t know much of anythin’ about you.” The green man hummed, 2D leaning towards him; he was magnetic when he spoke. His New York-esque accent was incredibly attractive and his voice was much deeper than it used to be on TV, way back when 2D and a very little Noodle would fall asleep on the couch at Kong in the late hours of the night while watching cartoons.

“Don’t be ridiculous,” 2D averted his gaze to the table shyly, knowing that the other was still staring in full captivation back at him, “You know lots about me.”

Ace waved his free hand in dismissal, pinching his eyebrows. “Yeah, yeah, ‘Stuart Harold Pot, May 23rd’, all of that junk, I know that stuff. Everybody knows that stuff.” The ex-gangster mirrored 2D and rested his own chin in his palm, grinning over at him. “I’m talkin’ ‘bout  _ other  _ things. Not-so-important things that Noodle and Rus know about you just by livin’ with you all these years.”

2D stared right at him in intrigue, though he wasn’t sure if Ace could see it or not. He was always asked the same sorts of things in interviews--those were the things that he had to be careful with because anything he said would be put on blast. There were things he would’ve liked to say, sure, but they weren’t exactly things that he’d want all of his fans knowing.

His family? Sure. He didn’t really have friends, so having Ace around was really refreshing. Dating him was even better.

The blue-haired singer nudged against Ace’s shin with the tip of his sneakers, prompting an even bigger grin out of him.

“Sure, I’ll answer some of your questions--on the account you’ll answer some of  _ mine  _ afterwards.”

Ace laughed, withdrawing his hand and leaning back in his chair, crossing his arms. “You’ve got yourself a deal, my friend. Are you ready?”

2D took a sip of his tea, nodding as he swallowed, resting his head in his hand as he listened intently.

“What’s your favorite color?” Ace started, crossing one leg over the other and playfully squinting at him, acting as if he were interrogating the other man. 2D played along, giving him a wry tooth-gapped smile.

“What do you  _ think  _ it is?” He challenged him back, and the gangster hummed.

“I’m gonna go with blue. Just to be cliché.”

“It’s red,” 2D replied simply, and Ace raised his eyebrows, picking at the muffin between them.

“Wow, really? I’d’a bet money on blue. Then again, you’re probably sick of it, huh?”

2D shrugged indifferently, tangling his leg with one of the other’s. “I don’t mind it, really. It’s kind of like my branding, if that makes sense?”

“Of course. You’re the blue boy.”

Hearing Ace say that nickname made the tips of his ears turn red and his cheeks burn warm, and Ace absolutely caught sight of this, and he bit his bottom lip with a smile.

“So--Baby Blue--another question.” He grinned when Stu put his hands on his cheeks and dipped his head; it was so innocent, almost as if he’d never had anyone talk to him like this before. It almost made the bassist sad.

“What’s your weirdest hidden talent?”

“My weirdest hidden talent?” 2D repeated, and Ace nodded, leaving him to think for a minute. He clicked his tongue in decision and tapped his fingertips on the edge of the table, lifting his teacup to his mouth.

“...I can play certain songs on the piano with my toes.”

Ace whooped. “I’m calling flat-out  _ bullshit--” _

“--No, no, really! I swear on me mum I can.”

The rain outside fell steadily as Ace smiled incredulously, tilting his head. “Which ones?”

Stu thought for a moment before looking directly into the other man’s eyes. “A lot of them are ours. Like I can play the intro to “Dirty Harry” real easy. But you know the keyboard solo at the end of the version of “Andromeda” DRAM did with us?”

The green man was absolutely fucking floored, his face falling in denial. “No.”

2D grinned, nodding. “Yes. That was definitely me playing the Casio with my feet.”

Ace let out a roar of laughter and 2D turned red, shoulders hunching a bit in embarrassment at the attention they’d drawn to themselves as he smiled shyly. “I mean... halfway through I had to switch to my hands, but the beginning definitely was...”

“Stu, that’s fucking  _ incredible,”  _ Ace said, wrapping his hands around his coffee mug. “The weirdest thing I can do is make a clover with my tongue. Even then, that’s just a weird ability, not a whole-ass  _ talent  _ like playing the piano with your toes. Jesus Christ. I can’t even play it with my hands.”

“No, the weirdest thing you can do is drink straight-up slushee and be okay,” 2D added.

“Oh, lovely, I can’t actually do that,” Ace exhaled out of his nose in endearment, taking a sip of his coffee, “All of that was shitty early-2000s editing.”

The singer felt that he should have already known this, but he still looked a bit crushed anyway. Ace just chuckled and bent across the table, planting a kiss on the other man’s cheek.

“Thanks for believing in me, though,” He ran a hand through the blue locks once before sitting back, the singer leant into his hand with a content smile. He was so gentle with him. It kept him grounded.

“I suppose if that was anything, it would be more of a superpower, anyway...” 2D still felt his fingers in his hair even though they were gone, and he reached a hand up to ruffle it back to normal. Ace snapped his fingers, brightening.

“Ooh! That’s a good question! If you could have any superpower, what would it be?”

Stu tilted his head, shutting one eye in thought.

“ _ Any  _ superpower...” he repeated, and Ace nodded. The singer clapped his hands together and cleared his throat.

“Teleportation.”

Ace blinked and sat back, intrigued. “How come?”

Stu just laughed disheartenedly and fished out his phone as a distraction. “I don’t know... I, um... I guess sometimes I wish I could just ‘poof’ out of things. You know?” Ace just watched in concern as 2D tried to hide the off-kilter statement by typing a nonsense message to Noodle that he wouldn’t wind up sending. “Like interviews, or just all-around bad situations... those sorts of things.” 

The coffee shop suddenly seemed a lot quieter even though the same bustle as before was going on; forks still clinked against mugs and faucets and things still ran behind the counters.

“Of course that’s not all the time!” Stu added suddenly, noting of the worry on the other man’s face. “Just sometimes. Like I really could’ve used that power on Plastic Beach or when I was beached with the whale.”

Ace gave him an odd look, picking up his coffee and bringing it to his lips. “Are you sure?”

“I’m positive.”

Ace swallowed, replacing it back on a coaster and nudging 2D. “Promise?”

2D smiled, flattered the man cared so much, and took his hand in his. “I promise.”

“Next question, then...” Ace jiggled his knee, a habit 2D had noticed fairly early on in his arrival. He didn’t think he even realized he did it. “You ever been in love?”

The singer blushed and opened his mouth to speak, his eyes glassy, but Ace held up a finger.

“-- _ Other  _ than now. Now doesn’t count.”

He suddenly flinched though, his skin flushing a darker green as he brought his hand up to his mouth, losing his cool exterior as he grew worried at his choice of words.

“O-Oh... I guess I didn’t mean...”

It was 2D’s turn to laugh at him, resting his arms on the table and leaning towards him in endearment. 

“That came off a little arrogant, didn’t it?” Ace asked, wedging a hand in his long black hair in worry. 2D shook his head.

“No, no, I know what you meant,” he reassured, “and you caught me, too, because that was exactly what I was going to say.”

“Wow. Cheesy,” Ace teased, though it was quite obvious he was still pretty embarrassed of himself. 2D squeezed his hand and smiled, the two staring at each other for a minute, the rain outside still gentle on the big window next to them. 2D didn’t think Ace could see where his pupils technically were, but when his eyes drifted down to the muffin on the table, the other man snickered.

“Hey, my eyes are up here, y’know,” the gangster began to laugh, his snaggle canine catching on his lip as he grinned, and 2D laughed with him. He picked off a particularly big chunk and popped it in his mouth, shrugging apologetically.

“I’m sorry. It just caught my eye... plus I just really like blueberries.” 2D gestured to his hair. “They remind me of me!”

“You sayin’ you like blueberries more than you like me?” Ace feigned hurt, miming wiping away a tear with his finger. “Damn, Stu, that hurts. I should’ve known it was too good to be true...”

There was silence for a second before Ace suddenly remembered what he had asked and crossed his arms. 

“Wait... are you evadin’ my question?” He pressed. Stu shook his head, but it wasn’t a firm shake.

“...No. Not really,” he began, resting his head on his hand again. “You read  _ Rise of the Ogre,  _ right?”

Ace nodded. “Yeah, way, way back in the day.” He squinted and made a face, sticking out his tongue in mock disgust. “Wait, you ain’t gonna say you was in love with that one chick, are ya? That... that...” He snapped his fingers in thought. “That ‘Pauline’, right? Or was it Paula?”

The mentioning of her name made 2D’s heart plummet. He sipped at his tea with a red face.

“I guess I wasn’t in love with her, no... at the time I thought I was.” He set down the cup and folded his hands, staring at the table in mixed emotion. “We’d dated since year 10 and I thought she was the one. But if she had loved me the way I thought I loved her, then she wouldn’t have cheated on me...” 

Ace was quiet, not exactly sure how to respond. He licked his teeth, looking at his boyfriend in pity, but 2D glanced up with a warm smile.

“But I suppose it happened for a reason. We were gonna get Noodle either way, but I’m glad she played guitar for us instead. She does a much better job.” The singer smiled even wider. “Plus if I was still dating her for some reason I would’ve never gotten to know you this well.”

Ace mirrored him again, reaching out so he could intertwine their pinkies. “You’re a charmer, Stu. It uh... it kinda sucks that Mud was arrested and all--”

“--Does it?” 2D coyly interjected, the same smile on his face as before, having fallen just a bit if anything. Ace just snorted to avoid the awkward conversation and continued.

“...but I’m glad I got to meet you all. Everyone’s as nice as I thought you’d be, plus I got to know the prettiest guy I’ve ever seen.” He grinned at him, thrilled that the singer seemed as equally infatuated with him. “I always thought you were cute. Not gonna lie.”

“Really?” Stu laughed, and Ace nodded.

“Hell yeah. Had a huge crush on you. The others would make fun’a me ‘cause of it. It was all in good fun, though.”

Stu looked curious. “I forgot that you were gay.” When Ace looked both confused and amused, 2D shook his head and added, “Like, I forgot you weren’t bi-curious too. You have no interest in girls whatsoever and you’ve known for a while.” 

Ace nodded slowly in comprehension, sitting up in a way that signaled that he wanted to head out in a few minutes. “Yeah. I’ve known since I was a teenager; I’ve never really felt anything different. Probably knew for sure by the time I was 17 back when we were startin’ to film.”

He didn’t know why, but 2D found that interesting. Ace was confident in what he was, yet 2D was so unsure and felt like he was treading strange waters by considering the fact that he was attracted to men. Did he like girls too? That’s how Murdoc was; Murdoc was a raging bisexual and he’d known that about himself since he was 9. Noodle had known she was a lesbian since she was at least 13; Russel was the closest to 2D in this situation, having begun to identify as gay in his 20s.

Why was it automatic to assume yourself as straight? Had he ever really been straight? He’d really loved Paula at the time. Maybe he was bi? Or pan? 

Then again, the way Ace made him feel wasn’t like anything he’d ever felt before. Not with Paula, not with Rachel.

Ace was really something. 2D chose not to worry about it right now. 

“That reminds me; I meant to ask you,” Stu started, and Ace looked genuine, tilting his head to listen, “How do you  _ really  _ feel about the reboot?”

Ace rolled his eyes incredibly hard and made 2D whoop, the gangster grabbing his jacket off of the back of his chair as Stu stood up. “I’m legally binded to not be able to say anything about it for as long as the show’s running...” 

“Awe, come on love, you can’t tell just me?”

Ace stood up too, heart fluttering at the pet name, smiling half-heartedly and shaking his head slowly. “I love it...” 

2D snorted, grabbing the bill off of their table and cleaning up the general area. “They only needed you for one episode so far. That sucks.”   


"Yeah, it really does,” Ace frowned, picking at his nails and sounding rather irked, not at 2D but at the network he’d put decades-worth of work into. “I was the original villain... I was the first, y’know? Then they basically nix me and my boys in favor of a super-short guy in a mocap suit. I guess they had to tweak the show a bit since the original girls grew up, but it just isn’t that great without ‘em.”

The two made the walk back to the front together, a still-dripping umbrella at 2D’s side.

“Do you talk to the original girls?” He asked.

“Oh yeah, we’re all good friends,” Ace smiled nostalgically. “They’re real-life triplets.  _ The PowerPuff Girls  _ was created by their pops and he played Professor Utonium--their names were nicknames he had given ‘em when they were real small. I think it’s pretty cool, actually.” Ace, using his cunning, had managed to pickpocket 2D of the bill he had in his hand, fishing his own wallet out of his back pocket. “All three? Smart as fuck. Blossom and Bubbles are in Ivy League colleges; Blossom studies chemistry and Bubbles studies veterinary science.” He rubbed his chin in thought. “Buttercup studies sociology, I think?”

2D looked super impressed, not even noticing Ace pulling money out to pay. He felt around for his own wallet. “Good for them; that’s amazing!”

Ace nodded. “Yeah, they’re somethin’, I’ll tell you that.” He grinned, looking down at the floor. “I can tell ya that Buttercup is an absolute lesbian, though. Like,  _ really, really  _ gay. Her and I laugh about it all the time, because...” He gestured at the lack of words and 2D nodded in understanding. What an iconic episode. “That was such a big part of the show’s plot, but in real life, one of us is butch and the other is a twunk and we’re both queer as hell.” He collected the change and thanked the cashier, slipping a hand behind 2D’s back and corralling him away from the registers towards the door. Stu looked confused, looking back just as he got his wallet out and realized what had happened, swatting at Ace’s arm in faux-anger.

“You just paid!” Ace’s smile grew wider as he averted his eyes, the singer pouting. “You asshole!”

“Hey, hey, don’t worry ‘bout it, alright?” The gangster put his hand on the opposite side of 2D’s face and pulled his cheek close to kiss it sweetly. “It’s a date. You ain’t never gotta pay when you’re out with me.” 

2D smiled and leant into his boyfriend, taking his arm into his. He was so used to being taller than everyone; it was nice to have a significant other the same height as him. 

“Thank you, Ace,” 2D kissed Ace’s cheek this time, feeling stubble poke against his lips. The green man blushed a deeper green, holding the door open. 2D followed out and opened the umbrella, Ace making his way to the singer’s free side, intertwining their fingers. He gave him a smile, and 2D’s heart pounded against his ribs. Ace was definitely unexpected, but he was a welcome change. He made him happy, and happiness was something that scarcely came for 2D. When he’d begun to shiver, Ace clicked his tongue and shed his jacket to drape around his shoulders, taking his hand again. 

“You shoulda worn one...” He scolded. They began to walk, swinging their arms like children as they held hands, huddled close under the umbrella as the Detroit rain fell gently on top of them. The car was only a few blocks away, but 2D wished it was more just so they could spend more time together like this.

They walked in silence, but suddenly Stu remembered something that had been said, and he pinched his eyebrows and looked over at his boyfriend.

“‘Short man in a mocap suit’?” He repeated, and Ace laughed.

“Mojo Jojo. A lot of  _ The Powerpuff Girls  _ was computer generated, Stu...”

“I feel lied to!” 2D cried out, feeling Ace tighten his grip on his hand as he laughed harder, falling deeper in love with the clumsy man with eight balls for eyes.

Whatever he did, he could  _ not  _ let Noodle know these secrets. 

Her childhood would be  _ crushed. _


End file.
